


My new university life

by RubyMari22



Category: Joker Game (Anime)
Genre: Alternate Universe - College/University, Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Gen, M/M, Multi, Other
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-06-26
Updated: 2017-11-03
Packaged: 2018-07-18 07:38:55
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 8
Words: 8,562
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7305616
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/RubyMari22/pseuds/RubyMari22
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Dormitories are one thing, but for the other residents to affect your university life as well? Sakuma totally didn't sign up for the latter. [Modern College!AU]</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> My first Joker Game fanfic hehe
> 
> So, just a note or two: this is a college!AU and will mostly be in Sakuma's POV, unless stated otherwise, but majority of the time will be Sakuma's POV.
> 
> Note that there will be a lot of headcanons here and there, and pairings if you squint hard enough
> 
> This is for the laughs, just like their drama CDs (if you've heard them already)
> 
> Anyway, enjoy!

_New school year_

_New dormitory_

I honestly didn't intend on staying in a dormitory for the whole time I'll be studying in the university, but because of practicality and my difficulty last school year with public transportation, this dorm that I'll be staying in is closer to the university compared to my home, so after persuading my parents, I was allowed to move out and dorm here.

I knocked on the door of the dorm head's office and entered, "And you are Sakuma, correct?" the dorm head, Yuuki as stated in the name plate on his table, asked me.

"Yes, sir…"

The dorm head brought out a couple of papers and the room key from the drawer and placed it on top of the table, "You're room number is three-two-four. You will be rooming with Tobisaki Hiroyuki, also known to the other residents as Odagiri."

"Odagiri?"

"It's a penname that the residents decided to play around with, the others also have their own pennames." He said with a small sigh, "You'll find the necessary information in these papers, from rules to the floor plan of this place and etc."

I took the folder, containing the papers, and my room key and read briefly at the rules and regulations of the dorm, "Any other questions?"

"No sir."

"Good, there are only around nine – including you – who are residents of this dorm. Every month, one of you will be in charge of checking the facilities, in-charge of activities and the like. Since it's a new school year, we'll be having a new rotation system."

"How will we go about it?"

"Once all residents have checked in, there will be a meeting about it in the lounging room. Oh and you're the only new resident checking in, while the rest are returnees, so they know how to go about the things that go around here."

"I see…"

"Well then, you're dismissed." He said. I bowed and left the office.

I walked to my room and saw that my roommate isn't there yet. As I started to unpack my things, I began to think about my dorm mates.

_So… The eight are all returning residents, huh? I wonder what they're like…_


	2. First Impressions

Quiet.

Is my first impression of my roommate: Quiet. As I had finished settling in my room, someone had come in with his own luggage and paused for a while when he had seen me. When I had realized that he was Tobisaki – my roommate, I quickly introduced myself, only to be cut off with an, 'I know, Yuuki-san told us.'

"Eh? So all of the other residents know of me already?" I had asked, surprised.

He nodded, "We report to Yuuki-san before heading to our rooms since he has our room keys. So, he told me about you." He said, as he started removing his clothes from his luggage and into his cabinet.

"Oh." He doesn't speak much either… Only what's necessary, it seems.

"So, uh… Do I call you Tobisaki or Odagiri? Yuuki-san told me about your codenames…"

"Either is fine… But everyone else calls me Odagiri and I'm just going with the flow…"

"And Yuuki-san?"

"And Yuuki-san." So the dorm head is going with the flow of using code names, huh? Do I even need to make one for myself?

"You don't have to, Sakuma-san…" he said, as if he had read my thoughts, "We only did it during a small game we played last year… It just got stuck, I guess…" he explained.

"Oh… I see…" And with that, I ran out of questions to ask. Awkward.

* * *

It's around two in the afternoon when the intercom in the hallways had announced for all residents to head to the lounging area for a meeting. Tobi – I mean, Odagiri had already left about an hour ago, saying that he was going to see another resident… So, I headed to the lounging area alone… Aaaaaaaaand, it seems that I'm the last one there.

"Ah, Sakuma. Take a seat anywhere." Yuuki-san told me as I glanced around to see a vacant seat at the back.

As I had seated, Yuuki-san started off with some house rules, regulations, etc., "Lastly, we will be having pairings instead of the normal individual dorm assisting. Because I've noticed that some of you don't do it properly, so hopefully, with a partner, you'll get things at a better rate. So, let's start… Miyoshi." A short guy with brown styled hair stood up. He walked up to Yuuki-san's left side, and from the way he walked and when I saw his smirk, I could tell that he was arrogant in a way.

"Fukumoto." A black haired guy, taller than Miyoshi, had stood up and stood beside him. He's like… Odagiri, in some way – in terms where, you can tell that they wouldn't probably talk much to you.

"Amari." This time, a short-penny brown haired guy stood up and went over to Yuuki-san's right side. He looks really friendly – sociable, is the more correct term to associate with this guy.

"Lastly, Hatano." The last person to be called seems to be the smallest of the group that was called – and maybe the smallest out of all them. He looks like he's beaming with pride – he could probably match the Miyoshi-guy's 'arrogance'.

"Alright. Now you four can pick who your partner would be, and I'll assign Sakuma-san to any of you… Hatano, you go first."

"Alright. Let's see…" Hatano looked around the remaining four, "Please don't pick Kaminaga." Miyoshi told him with a sigh.

"Why? You want him or something? You can have him." Hatano said.

"No. Just putting you and Kaminaga is probably going to be catastrophic."

"Hey—"

"Just choose one already, Hatano."

Hatano had glared at Miyoshi before quickly calling out someone name, "Jitsui." A guy slightly taller than Hatano stood up and walked to his side. This Jitsui-guy looks really really nice, he seems different from Hatano.

"Amari, choose your partner."

"Hm… I'll go with Tazaki." He said, as an obsidian haired guy stood up and walked to Amari's side. This guy totally had a different body built compared to Amari… But for some reason, when you look at these two, they look older than me… Are they really university students?!

"Good luck with Tazaki, Amari." A brown haired guy said, sounding happy about it. Seeing as it's only Odagiri and him left, he's probably Kaminaga. He has a mischievous air around him… Hm, no wonder Miyoshi said that Hatano and Kaminaga shouldn't pair up.

"Fukumoto, you're up."

"Odagiri." He merely said as my roommate, Odagiri, silently stood up and went to Fukumoto's side. Knew it. They're both the quiet-type.

"Lastly, Miyoshi."

"Well, looks like I'm stuck with you Kaminaga." Miyoshi said with a smirk and a tad bit of sarcasm in his tone.

"Don't say it like you don't like it, Miyoshi. After all, best for last, right?" Kaminaga gave a smirk of his own as he headed to Miyoshi's side.

"So you did want Kaminaga as your partner." Hatano said

"What? You didn't want Jitsui?"

"Stop it you two. Miyoshi, Kaminaga. I'll leave Sakuma to you." As I had heard my name, I quickly stood up from my seat – quite abruptly I must add and stiff. And because of that quick reaction, the other residents had chuckled and I felt my face redden due to embarrassment.

"Well, Sakuma-san. Happy to work with you." Miyoshi had come up to me, with a smile that seemed like he was still amused by my earlier actions, and a mocking tone that seemed like he was looking down on me.

"To you as well…" I had said. He just smirked at me once again before Yuuki-san had told us to sit down again as he arranged the rotation schedule. But for some strange reason… It feels as if I made the worst possible first impression on these guys…?

_Why the hell does this feel like the first day of school?!_

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> First impressions are hell, to be honest. When I first entered college, I tried hard not to make the same mistakes as when I first transferred to my high school... 
> 
> And this is quite similar to my experience as a dorm resident myself -- first impressions... Since, you know... I'll be living with them 24/7 haha
> 
> Well, I hope you enjoyed this and hopefully meets your expectations (more or less) I tired humor, really...
> 
> Oh and, if you have any headcanons you would like to share, feel free to do so! :D


	3. Getting to know (you)

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Just when I said that I would start a update schedule, I ruined it.
> 
> I apologize... School just became hell last weekend...

It’s been only a few weeks since I last saw my friends in the university and I haven’t exactly told them that I was staying in a dorm, and tomorrow, I’ll be going back to school.

I headed down to the cafeteria for breakfast, and when I got there, Miyoshi, Kaminaga and Fukumoto were already up and eating breakfast.

“Ah, good morning.” I greeted them, to which I received just a collective greeting from the three of them. “You guys are up early…” I commented as I sat down beside Kaminaga on the four-person table. Miyoshi sat across Kaminaga, while Fukumoto sat beside Miyoshi.

“I’m headed to the campus to sign-up for something. Miyoshi’s just an early bird like Fukumoto here.” Kaminaga told me, biting from his bread.

“And you, Sakuma-san?” Miyoshi asked me.

“I’ll be meeting up with a few friends.”

“I see…” From what I’ve remembered from last night’s meeting, Kaminaga, Miyoshi and I are in charge of the dorm responsibilities on June, then after Jitsui-Hatano, and Tazaki-Amari pairs on July and August respectively, it’ll be us again on September. Odagiri also told me last night – to be a bit cautious as to what I say and do in front of Miyoshi.

“What course are you studying, by the way Sakuma-san?” Kaminaga asked me.

“Military Science. And you guys?” I asked.

“Arts. Kaminaga’s photography.” Miyoshi said, drinking from his water.

“Your courses are pretty in-line.” I commented, “Fukumoto’s is…?”

“Journalism.” He answered back to me.

I hummed in response before I drinking from my juice, “By the way, what year are you in?” 

“I’m a second year.” Miyoshi answered. 

“Third year. Fukumoto as well.”

“Wait, Kaminaga… You’re a third year? I thought you would be a second year like Miyoshi.” 

“I look that young? Thanks!” he grinned at my question. “But yeah, I’m a third year. The third years in the dorm are me, Amari and Fukumoto. Tazaki and the rest are second years.”

“Oh, I see….” 

“And you?” 

“Second year.” 

“I see~” Miyoshi mused as Fukumoto excused himself and headed back to his room, just as Jitsui and Hatano entered the cafeteria, “Good morning.” Hatano yawned. “Morning.” 

“What were guys talking about?” Jitsui asked us as he sat down on the seat that Fukumoto once sat on, beside Miyoshi and Hatano took a chair from the other table and sat on the side. 

“Just wanted to get to know each other, that’s all. Ah, Odagiri is also in Military Science.” Kaminaga said. 

“Eh? Really?” I said, surprised. Since I don’t really see him. 

Miyoshi chuckled; probably from my confused face I’m showing right now, “Yeah, he’s just probably in a different schedule from you, that’s all.” He said, reading my mind. “Jitsui’s also in Military Science.” He added, pointing at the slightly shorter boy. 

I blinked, Jitsui? Part of the Military Science course? “Eh?” 

“Sakuma-san? You don’t believe that I’m part of the Military Arts?” Jitsui asked me with a smile that gave me shivers. 

“I-It’s not like that! It’s just that—uh…” 

The others chuckled at my inability to answer Jitsui back, “Don’t worry, he gets that often. Even when he first started last year.” Hatano said. 

“But I was able to keep them shut afterwards.” Jitsui informed me with another smile. Man, I never felt scared from a smile in my entire life… 

Then something made me realize something, “Wait, are you Morishima Kunio?” I inquired, I remembered hearing last year, that a class from Akimasa Kazuto-sensei had successfully beaten a graduating student who was helping out Akimasa-sensei as a teacher’s aid. Gamou, an old high school classmate of mine, told me that the guy’s stature isn’t even compared to the graduating student, but he had successfully beaten him. 

“Oh~ So you’ve heard? From who?” 

“Gamou…” 

“Gamou Jirou?” I nodded. “Eh~ So you know Gamou-kun.” He mused. 

“So, are you Morishima Kunio?” I asked again. 

“Yep~ Akimasa-sensei had given us a test and had me paired up with the teacher’s aid since nobody wanted to pair up me during the test.” He said with a sigh, because of not being paired up with anybody or the fact that everyone looked down on him – I don’t know. 

“I… See…”

Kaminaga then whispered to me, “Despite his nice and polite personality, Jitsui’s a real sadist.” 

I gulped as I saw the four of them interact once more, _I shouldn’t get on his bad side then… This is going to be one hell of a school year._

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The dorm-aid thing goes like this:  
> April - Amari-Tazaki pair  
> May - Fukumoto-Odagiri pair  
> June - Miyoshi group  
> July - Hatano-Jitsui pair  
> August - Amari-Tazaki pair
> 
> Basically, Amari-Tazaki pair goes first, then Fukumoto/Odagiri pair, then Miyoshi's group then Hatano/Jitsui are the last pair.
> 
> I'll be using their pseudonyms from the anime


	4. Getting to know (you) pt. 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Since, I missed the update last week... I will update twice for this weekend.
> 
> Regarding the courses, I honestly thought hard about what Jitsui's course would be, but I ended up thinking maybe he'd just be in Military Science since I based everyone's courses to their missions in the anime. Jitsui's persona (Morishima) was supposed to be part of the army, until the family who fostered him made a fake medical report. So, I said, "Hey, why not make Jitsui have the Military Science course?" and because I wanted some kind of interaction of him and Gamou at some point in the fic.
> 
> Haha... Yeah...

After breakfast, I had excused myself to get ready to meet up with some friends of mine. We were to meet in a café, just a bus stop from here. I left the dorm building and headed to the bus stop to wait for the bus, and while waiting I felt someone tap my shoulder – looking to my side, I saw Miyoshi.

“What-?”

“I’m just going to buy some art supplies.” He told me, putting his hands on his pants pockets.

“I see…” I said. After a few minutes, the bus had finally arrived and the two of us boarded the bus. We sat beside each other, he on the window seat, while I was on the aisle seat.

“So? What made you want to move into a dorm on your second year?” he spoke up.

“Commuting was quite difficult, and I was always already tired whenever I got home.”

Miyoshi hummed in response, “Well, you are in the Military Science course… But I’ve never seen Jitsui tired…” he said thoughtfully, I don’t know if he’s degrading me for being weaker than Jitsui or he’s just thinking of Jitsui in general.

“Well, why did you choose Arts?” I asked.

“Hm? Oh, well it’s beautiful – the feeling of art.” He said.

“And your favorite art work?”

“Ophelia.”

“Ophelia? Why?”

“There’s something about the artwork that makes it… Interesting, that’s all. Especially if you know the story of Hamlet.” He said, hinting as if I didn’t know Shakespeare’s work. My eyebrow twitched as I saw his smirk – his smirks… his whole presence in general, always seem to look down on me.

The bus soon stopped before I could say anything, “Well, this is my stop.” I announced as I got up from my seat.

“Have fun, Sakuma-san.” He said with a small wave.

Once I had gotten down from the bus, I looked back at the bus as it drove away. That Miyoshi… There really is something about that guy, from his tone to how he looks down on me… I’ll… Just have to ask Odagiri about it later.

I entered the café just near the bus stop and saw that Gamou was the only one there, “You’re the only one here?”

“Seems so.” He said as I sat down on the seat across him, “So, what’s your order?”

I picked up the menu and scanned through the items, “Hm… Any suggestions?”

“I heard that the chocolate mousse is good.”

“I’ll take that then… And an espresso sounds good.”

“Coffee before the start of school?”

“Coffee never keeps me up…” he merely shrugged before calling the waiter for our order.

“Should we even order before the others get here?”

“Well, I’ve been here for a long time already… So…”

I sighed and let him order anyway, “Oh, right… I wanted to tell you that I started dorming yesterday.”

“Why?”

“It seemed practical for me to dorm, especially with my schedule this semester.”

“I see…”

Our coffee soon came and I added some sugar into my drink and started to stir, “And I’m dormmates with Morishima Kunio.”

“Excuse me?” he gaped at me, not believing that I’m living in the same building as his classmate in Mr. Akimasa’s class. “I’m dormmates with Morishima Kunio.”

“You’ve got to be kidding me.”

“I’m not… Why? What’s wrong with Ji- Morishima?”

“Well, nothing… Just…” he coughed before he suddenly changed the topic, “Anyway, so if you’re in the same dorm as Morishima, then that means you’re living in D-Hall…”

I raised my eyebrow, confused as to why he would suddenly change the topic, but let it slide for the time being, “Yeah…”

“I heard that the dorm head was a Military Science alumni.”

“Yuuki-san is an alumni?”

He nodded, “That’s why Akimasa-sensei would often have some kind of grudge against Morishima, who’s living there.”

“Did something happen between Akimasa-sensei and Yuuki-san?” Gamou shrugged before drinking his coffee. Well, whatever the case, I’m just glad I didn’t pick any of his classes…

After a few minutes, more of our friends came in and we started to chat – mostly what our schedule was and our free time, in hopes that we could meet up and hangout again.

It was five in the afternoon when I headed back to the bus stop, and once I entered, I saw Miyoshi sitting in the same seat as he had been earlier this afternoon, “It’s like you never left.”

“Good to see you again, Sakuma-san.” Miyoshi evaded my statement as he looked up from his phone. I sat down on the empty seat beside him and looked at the paper bag situated on his lap.

“How long did you shop for only one paper bag?”

“If you must know, Sakuma-san. The place where I went to was quite far from here, that’s why I took so long.” He told me. “And Kaminaga wanted to buy me some things for his camera, since it was in the same store.”

“I see… You and Kaminaga are close, you two are roommates?”

He looked at me before back to his phone, “Why so curious?”

“Just a question…” 

He sent me that annoying smile again before answering my question, “No, I’m not roommates with him. I’m roommates with Jitsui and Hatano.” He told me with a small smile. “Kaminaga are with Amari and Tazaki and Fukumoto.” He added

“I see…”

“Well, here’s our stop.” He said as the bus stopped. We both went down and headed back to the dorm building. We headed back to our respective rooms and as soon as I got to my room, I flopped down on my bed with a sigh, “Say Odagiri.” I addressed my roommate, who was reading a book on his study table.

“Hm?”

“Is it just me or Miyoshi looks down on me.” 

Odagiri looked up from the book he was reading to glance at me before going back to his book, “He looks down on everyone. He’s just narcissistic that way… Well, you’ll get used to it at some point.” He said, as if it’s the most normal thing in the world.

I sighed before looking up at the ceiling, _This is really going to be a long school year…_

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> It's part 2 cause I actually want Sakuma to interact with Miyoshi /shot
> 
> And I edited the chapter 3: Mr. Akimasa to Akimasa-sensei


	5. First Day - First Class

Having one last look at the mirror, I fixed my polo shirt and my hair before heading down to the dining area for breakfast. It was the first day of second year and my schedule this semester is mostly in the morning, well – I’m used to it anyway, since my classes for the whole first year was mostly morning. 

“Ah, Sakuma-san. Good morning.” Kaminaga greeted me as I entered the room, “Good morning.” I greeted back. 

“You’re up early.” I commented as I just grabbed a few pieces of bread and butter. 

“So are you. It’s only like what?” He glances at the wall clock behind him and says, “Six-thirty in the morning…?! Most classes starts at eight!” 

I glanced back at the clock and saw that it really was just six-thirty in the morning. Realizing that I woke up through habit – which was five in the morning since I commute, I sheepishly chuckled as I rubbed the back of my neck, “Ahhh, sorry… Habit.” 

Kaminaga sighed at me before looking at me like I’m a crazy person for waking up early, “Oh right, you were a commuter before. Look, the campus is just walking distance, it takes ten minutes at most.” He told me, as if it was the most obvious thing in the world. 

“Yeah, well sorry if it was a habit. But I could say that to you – what are you doing here so early?” 

“Huh? Oh! Cause Tazaki’s annoying in the morning.”

“Tazaki’s awake?”

“Yeah. He wakes up early to feed the pigeons that are on the roof.”

“Pigeons?” 

“We have a pigeon coop up in the roof. Yuuki-san allowed him to take care of them, since it keeps the pigeons from dirtying the roof.” 

“And you woke up because…?” 

Kaminaga sighed, “You see, this is how our room is – when you enter the room, there are two beds on the left and another two beds on the right. On the left side are Amari and Fukumoto, while on the right are me and Tazaki. I may be a heavy sleeper but since I stayed up late editing a photo for my organization in school – I stayed up late, lack sleep, thus being a light sleeper for the night... And Tazaki isn’t exactly the quietest person when he wakes up to feed the pigeons.” 

“Oh… I see…” 

“Yeah… But, I’ll just catch some sleep during my break later in the afternoon.” He said thoughtfully, probably remembering his schedule for the day.

**.:..::..:.**  

After eating breakfast, I went back to brush my teeth and a last check on the mirror. 

“It’s like you’re a nervous freshman…” Odagiri commented as he entered the bathroom, his clothes and towel on tow. I blushed at his comment before replying, “Sorry… Just that my first class’ professor is new, so… First impressions – that sort of thing.” 

“I see. Well, good luck.” He said. I nodded before leaving the bathroom and fetching my bag. I walked out of my room and headed out of the dormitory and towards the campus. 

As I entered the lecture room, I saw familiar faces and greeted them a ‘good morning’ before having a friendly chat about the break and our expectations for the year. 

_“Ah, Morishima. You’re in this class?”_ Morishima? I looked at the door, only to see Jitsui entering the classroom. _J-Jitsui?_

“Ah, Sakuma-san, I didn’t know you were in this class.” He said, taking a seat beside me. 

“Y-Yeah… I took it since it’s schedule was convenient to my other classes. And you?” 

“I supposedly enrolled to Akimasa-sensei’s class, but it seems that a lot of people already enrolled to his class, so they transferred around ten students to this class.” He explained. 

“Eh?” 

“You’re surprised as I am. Well, we were just informed when we walked into our classrooms earlier. My name wasn’t in the list in front of the door, so I went to the office and asked about it, and was told that I was one of the students to go to this class.” 

“I see…” Akimasa-sensei is a popular professor when it comes to the Military Organization and Strategy class. There are three classes overall with Akimasa-sensei as one of the professors, followed by Takahashi-sensei and then lastly Nishio-sensei, where the latter is my professor. Nishio-sensei is an alumni who graduated two years ago, and I think I would learn a lot from someone who’s been a student from this school as well. 

“Say Jitsui.”

“Please call me Morishima in class, Sakuma-san.”

“O-Okay… Morishima… Why enroll at Akimasa-sensei’s class when – from what I heard – he has some sort of grudge on Yuuki-san and takes it out on you.”

He plainly stared at me before putting an innocent smile on his face and said, “Because it’s fun.”

“Eh?”

“It’s fun to break the expectations of other towards me. I’m short in stature – well, Hatano’s shorter,” he chuckled, “and frail looking, but…” his innocent looking smile turned into a smirk and it gave me shivers throughout my body, “As they say, not everything is as they seem.”

I was completely speechless, I knew of the sadistic nature of his – but it’s still something I’m not used to. “Sakuma-san?” 

I flinched at the call of my name, making Jitsui chuckled at my inability to respond, “Nishio-sensei is here,” he pointed door where our professor was entering. But before I could say anything to Jitsui, we were all told to stand up, bow and greet our professor.

As Nishio-sensei introduced himself, Jitsui slid a piece of paper on my notebook that said, _“Let’s help each other out this semester, classmate~”_ I glanced at him, who was already attentively listening to Nishio-sensei.

As I read the note, I remembered what Gamou told me about Jitsui and an alumni last school year. Letting out quiet sigh, I shook out those thoughts and just listened to Nishio-sensei – afterall, there’s no use in worrying about Jitsui, since he is now my dormmate… So his message is more of a ‘since we’re dormmates and classmates, let’s help each other out’ sort of thing. Yeah. That should be it.

I finished my thoughts as I wrote down the requirements Nishio-sensei would need by the end of the semester. 

_I really do hope this would be a good semester._

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry. It seems that I really suck at scheduling.  
> It's just that, class ended -- so I spent my entire weekend sleeping.  
> And because I had some family issue that basically made me unmotivated.


	6. Shimada Ryousuke

The bell rang, signaling the end of the class – and school for the day. Surprisingly, I had Jitsui in every class of mine until the afternoon. In each class, after the first one, he would sit beside me and flash me one of his innocent smiles and always says, _‘Oh, you’re in this class too, Sakuma-san? What a coincidence…Must be fate?’,_ and then with a chuckle.

Well, I don’t know if it’s coincidence or fate… But, Jitsui is different in class, he’s polite to all our professors and really nice. I mean, he was nice when I first met him in the dorm. Back in the meeting, he was the first to greet me politely, or at least nodded to me in acknowledgement. Now that we’re accustomed to each other, he probably shows that _side_ of his. 

 _‘Well, as long as you’re not being hostile with him, you’re most likely safe.’_ Odagiri once told me when I asked about the other dormers. 

Taking my things, I stood up and walked towards the exit. 

“Sakuma-san!” 

I looked back to see whoever had called me, and saw that it was Jitsui, “Morishima, what’s wrong?” 

“Oh, I was just wondering if you had a club or something.” 

I shook my head, “No, I don’t why?” 

“I want to check on this club, care to join me?” he asked 

Thinking that I won’t lose anything with joining him, I nodded, “Sure… But why are you interested? We’re both second years, so why join now?” 

Jitsui shrugged, “Actually, I already have a club. But, we’re not having an active meeting today so Shimano-kun asked me to check out his club.” 

“Shimano?”

“Shimano Ryousuke. Hatano.” 

“Ah, Hatano… Eh? Why?” 

“He wanted to show-off… That’s how he is.” He said with a sigh, “He’s in the martial arts club, and ever since I was roommates with him last year, he wouldn’t shut up about it. Right now, the club is showing off some tricks to freshmen for them to join. He was asked to be one of the people to show-off.” 

I sheepishly chuckled, “You don’t sound pleased with it.” 

“Because I don’t see the point of watching him goof off. I mean, I know what he’s capable of with martial arts – but, I don’t see the point of me having to watch it. Being forced to watch his every tournament video in the room is enough as it is.” He said exasperatedly. 

He soon started talking about our past classes and professors as we continued walking towards the gym, there we saw numerous freshmen watching the martial arts displays. 

“Oh, you two are here huh?” I looked to where the voice was and saw Miyoshi, walking up to us. 

“He invited you too?” Jitsui asked him 

Miyoshi sighed, “Apparently. Well, one of my classmates are there as well – So I thought I’d come and watch.” 

Jitsui merely sighed, “Oh well… Maybe I could see him mess up and I could laugh at it till the end of the school year.” He said. 

“Blackmailing is probable for that. So that he would shut up in the room from time to time.” Miyoshi said. It seems that they had a silent agreement to use what ever they could against Hatano. 

“Oh right… You three are roommates.” I said. 

“Yeah… Oh, there’s Hatano.” Miyoshi said, pointing at the brown haired boy in the right. His opponent seems to be really taller than him – almost as tall as Fukumoto or Amari. 

“Will he be okay?” I asked. 

“It’s Hatano. He’ll be okay. That is, if it is true that he’s a master of martial arts.” Jitsui said. 

“You guys seem confident in him.” Both Jitsui and Miyoshi looked back at me before chuckling, “Not really.” 

“What do you mean?” 

“Well, we’ve only seen videos of him fight – so you know, the possibility that we haven’t watched _all_ of his matches and only showed to us his best ones.” Miyoshi said. 

“But if he wins this, we won’t hear the end of it tonight…” Jitsui said 

“That’s true…” 

The referee soon signaled them, calling me attention, and the match begun. Hatano was clearly small in structure, but it’s not like it’s a basketball or volleyball match where height matters. 

Hatano’s opponent had grabbed Hatano’s collar, and it was probably a throw – where he would throw Hatano to the ground. But Hatano quickly placed his hands on his opponents wrist before turning back, using his whole body to carry the weight of his opponent to throw him off. 

“Well that ended quickly.” I commented as the referee ended the match with Hatano’s win. 

“Okay, so he’s not all talk…” Jitsui joked as Hatano saw us and came towards us, “So, did you see me? I’m awesome right?” 

I nodded, “You ended it pretty quickly.” I said, earning a prideful grin from him as he puffed out his chest with pride. 

“Yeah, you did well for someone your height.” Jitsui said, hovering his hand just above Hatano’s head. To which Hatano quickly retorted, “But we’re almost at the same height!” 

“ _But_ I’m _taller_ than you.” Jitsui replied back with a bigger smirk. 

I was about to calm them down when Miyoshi placed his hand on my shoulder to stop me, “Let them be. They’re always like this.” 

“You sure about that?” 

“They’re just playfully arguing.” Miyoshi shrugged, “It’s not a big deal.” 

“Shimano!” someone called Hatano out, and Hatano went back to where his other clubmates where and lined up, facing us – the audience.

“Thank you very much for watching!” The president of the club, most likely, shouted and bowed, before the other members did the same. We applauded them before the three of us walked out of the gym. “They’re pretty good.”

“Yeah, I heard that their president is a military science student.” Miyoshi said.

I hummed in response, “By the way, what’s Hatano’s taking?”

“European studies.” Jitsui said, “He’s annoyingly good at memorizing things. Sometimes to the point where even when he’s unconscious, he still remembers them. One time, I was up late with a report in class, Miyoshi and Hatano were already asleep but Hatano was sleep talking.”

“What was he saying?”

“He was reciting some French poem…”

“Oh, there was also this one time when I was up late too, Jitsui was out in the dorm’s library and Hatano had fallen asleep in his table. He was talking about something… Then Kaminaga came in to borrow something from me and noticed Hatano’s sleep talking and decided to play around a bit.” Miyoshi said, “I think Kaminaga had asked Hatano to recite the school’s mission-vision, to which Hatano perfectly recited it in his sleep.”

“What… Well, isn’t it that you get a lot of your memories resurfacing when you’re unconscious?” I asked 

“That’s true. But he’s really good at memorization. He’s memorized most of their literature pieces in his class in a week… Well, Amari’s good at memorizing as well.” Jitsui noted.

  
“Well, I’m surprised that Hatano’s taking up European studies.” 

“He just wants to go abroad. He met this French guy from his high school – an exchange student, and they made some kind of promise to meet up again.” Jitsui said with a sigh. 

“Oh, I remember that. Something about Hatano being the one visiting next time.” 

“Yeah.” 

“I see…” I merely said as we all headed back to the dorm. _Well, I learned something new about Hatano today… He’s a bit childish – from what I could tell._ I chuckled at the thought, earning a two questioning looks from Miyoshi and Jitsui. 

“What? Thinking of something, Sakuma-san?” Jitsui asked. 

“Or _someone_?” Miyoshi said with a smirk. 

I shook my head and sighed, “No.” 

Miyoshi merely looked at me, clearly not believing me, “Alright. If you say so.” He said with a shrug, but still wearing that grin of his. Looking at Jitsui, despite the nice smile he’s giving me, I could tell he’s thinking similarly as Miyoshi

I sighed _, I really can’t get the hang of their personality._

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I honestly don't know how to describe a martial arts match, sorry...


	7. Shizuoka Hajime

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello!  
> I apologize for not updating till now...  
> Life hasn't been so kind...

A few weeks have passed since the first day of the new school year and I had already got used to living in the dormitory. I would eat breakfast with Tazaki or Fukumoto, share notes with Jitsui and Odagiri (mostly the latter), and apparently, every weekend nights – the residents of the dorm would have a Poker night.

I discovered about it during the first weekend here in the dormitory, when I noticed that Odagiri wasn't in our room yet, even though he normally would be already at this time of the night. So, I shrugged it off, thinking that he was probably studying in the library, but when I went down to get a drink, I saw that he was playing poker with the others.

I played with them a few rounds and unfortunately lost all rounds to Miyoshi. And when Odagiri and I went back to our room, he explained that they had been doing this since last year and would do it every weekend nights after dinner. He also said that Miyoshi would always win.

I was also able to learn that Amari is taking up an engineering course – which he didn't specify, while Tazaki is taking up a performing arts course – he didn't specify either. I thought that it would be magic, because of Tazaki's numerous impromptu magic tricks he would do from time to time – but Odagiri explained to me that it only happens when he's stressed.

So, everyday had been a routine up to now actually. I would wake up, fix myself up for school, head down for breakfast and head back to the room to get my things before walking to campus. Then, I would head home after my classes and then study in the library before we get called for dinner by Fukumoto.

Although, there were times where the usual people I hangout with aren't available in the usual times, like earlier today – Fukumoto just left my breakfast in the table with a note, saying that he had gone ahead to school and told me to eat breakfast without me. When I had asked Odagiri afterwards, he had told me that Fukumoto had a scheduled interview with one of the professors of the university.

Bringing one of the school papers from last year with me – that was surprisingly in the dorm library, I decided to read it while waiting for the professor. "Reading Fukumoto's articles, Sakuma-san?" Jitsui asked out of nowhere, effectively surprising me.

Calming down, I replied to him, "Y-Yeah." The actually-sadistic-man sat down beside me before looking at the article I was reading, with slight interest. He then turned his head to me, "Sakuma-san…" he then mockingly smiled at me, "Do you even know which one is Fukumoto's? Heck, do you even know Fukumoto's real name?"

I felt anger within me, I don't know if it's because he did that annoying smile or from embarrassment for trying to look up at Fukumoto's article when not knowing his real name. Hearing his chuckled, I turned to him irritate, "What?"

"Nothing, nothing. Your face just amuses me, Sakuma-san." He said, waving it off as he slowly calmed down from his laugh. "Ah, don't look at me like that – if you ask me, Miyoshi could tease you way better than I do."

"Huh? What's that supposed to mean?"

Jitsui merely shrugged, indicating that he won't bother answering my question, before he pointed at one article about a Chinese transferee, "There. That's Fukumoto's article."

I read the title first before reading the author's name, "Shiozuka… Hajime…"

"That's Fukumoto's real name. He's one of the best authors of the school paper from what I heard. Then again, he is majoring in Journalism."

"I see…"

"He said that he wants to be a field journalist."

"Field journalist?"

"You know, the one who's always on the spot of the events to uncover all the stories in different points of view."

"Isn't that field of journalism quite dangerous? Since you might get caught in the trouble." Jitsui nodded, "Yeah, but that's what he wants." He said with a shrug. "Speaking of career, Kaminaga took up photography to take on his grandfather's? or was it his uncles… Anyway… His relative owns a shop in England, so Kaminaga wants to take over."

"So he wants to go to England?" Jitsui nodded as I hummed in reply, "I see…"

And the day soon went on normally.

* * *

 It's the following day and there was an unexpected chaos in school. Apparently, a rumor suddenly went around about a professor having an affair with a student - the thing is that the professor has a family, and that the student is a young boy. I don't know where the news started, but it made a huge commotion – the university's administration is having an investigation to find out who the professor was… To probably to keep the image of the school.

I sighed as I heard students from my class talk about it. "You seem to be stressed out, Sakuma-san." I turned my head to see Jitsui sitting down beside me.

"Probably from all the stress the professors been putting on us lately." I sheepishly said

He hummed in response as he took out his phone, "Oh right, Sakuma-san. Have you heard of this Facebook page?" he showed me his phone screen and Facebook page title, _X Uni Files_

X Uni Files? "What's this about?"

"It's basically where students of this university posting anonymously, a bunch of stories or rants about their university life or anything really." he explained to me.

"I see…"

"And then there's this certain student," he said as he scrolled through the page, "who posted the thing that's been going around campus."

"Thing?"

He then showed me the certain post.

_Warning: R18_

_Today, I went to a goukon with a few classmates of mine and a few students from a different university… when I noticed someone familiar. I let it be when one of the people with me told me that it was a professor from the university… hmmm… let's call him Prof K._

_We initially thought that he was just going to just have dinner in the same restaurant as us (of course just in a different private room), which I confirmed as I saw them enter a private room just two doors from ours._

_Just then, as I was going to the restroom, I saw a young boy (probably a first year uni student) enter the same room. Of course, I thought that the boy was just a family member or something, so I minded my own business._

_But when I was going back to where my friend was, I passed by Prof Ks room and heard some noises. Now, it's not the normal murmuring or noise you hear in a family gathering. Yup. It's that kind of business._

_I was shocked, for one thing. But when my friends came over to ask why I was just standing outside someone else's room, they heard it as well._

_So, well… there you have it._

_Just wanted to let this out._

_Journalism major, F_

This is… This is what everyone is talking about.

"So, this is where it started?"

Jitsui nodded before chuckling, "The professor sure is careless. Well not everyone knows who exactly the professor is, except the ones who were actually there." he commented.

"Well, Miyoshi said that they'll find out who the professor is eventually" he added with an amused smile as he read the post once more.

I frowned, I don't understand why he is laughing but I wonder why the writer of this post wanted to spread this out for everyone to hear… or well, read rather…

"I wonder who wrote that…" I muttered

"I know who wrote it" he said, as if it was the most obvious thing in the world.

"Really?" Jitsui nodded, "but it's a secret." he said as he placed his finger before his lips.

I sighed, but let it go as my professor came in the classroom.

* * *

I dumped my bag on my bed as soon as I got inside my room and slumped on my bed, beside my bag and let out a sigh.

I pulled out my phone and saw a few messages from my parents. After replying to them, I checked out the Facebook page Jitsui showed me earlier and checked on a few posts.

There were a lot of anonymous posts written, some about peoples or their own love life, others about some rants about classmates, administration, and whatnot… and so on.

"Wow… there sure are a lot." I muttered as I continued to scroll down.

"Alot of what?"

I sat up quickly from the voice, and saw Odagiri and let out a sigh of relief, "You surprised me."

"Sorry... so what are you checking out?"

"This Facebook page called, X Uni Files… you know about it?"

Odagiri nodded, "Yeah… Fukumoto often told me about it last year."

"I see."

"You didn't know about it?" he asked me as he stared at me

I nodded.

He merely blinked a few times before returning to his bag and brought out a few of his things and fixed hem on his desk. "Why?"

"Why what?"

"Why did you look at me as if finding out this page was the most surprising thing in the world?"

"Ah… well… I didn't mean to offend you or anything. I just thought that everyone in the campus knew about the page."

I said nothing, not really knowing what to say, but for some reason… I felt glad that it wasn't Miyoshi, who knows what kind of teases he'll do to me.

* * *

The following morning, despite only having afternoon classes today, I woke up for breakfast. And as usual, Fukumoto is up to start the day.

"Good morning, Fukumoto." I greeted, to which he only greeted back with a nod, before going back to whatever he was doing with his laptop.

I got my breakfast from the cafeteria staff and headed over to a table to eat, and managed to take a glimpse of Fukumoto's work.

Eh?

I saw him in the X Uni Files page, and it seems that he's writing something… I guess he's one of those people who likes to write anonymously… but I don't see him as a person who would rant…

When I finished my breakfast, I headed back to my room, where Odagiri had just finished getting ready.

"Hey, so anybody can post on that Facebook page?" I asked him

Odagiri nodded, "Even Fukumoto?"

He nodded once more, "He says that it helps him get rid of writer's block if needed. Or something like that."

Oh right… he's a journalism major.

Wait.

Ah.

Odagiri eyed me and asked, "You only figured out now?"

"Eh?"

"The one who wrote about the professor was Fukumoto."

I blinked a few times, "Eh? Why?"

"Well… That's just how people who reads and writes on the page works, I guess."

"but what about the rumors going around?"

"It'll die out soon enough." he said as he got his bag and was about to open the door when, "Don't worry about it. A lot of these things happen, but as long as everyone stays low, then nothing serious will happen." he said as he left the room.

I let out a sigh, "So Fukumoto has that kind of hobby, huh?"

I never saw as someone who would do something that would create such a big thing… "Since he's quiet and all…" I muttered, staring at my ceiling.

* * *

"Hehhhh~ so you found out who wrote it, huh? Yup its Fukumoto." Jitsui told me when I had asked

"So you knew?"

"Everyone in the dorm knew. And it's not the first time he posted there."

"I see."

"Surprised?"

"Eh?"

"That the quiet Fukumoto can create such an uproar." he smirked at me

I flinched, "I guess."

"I thought you learned that you shouldn't judge a book by its own cover?" he teased, making me remember what he told me when I first found out that we were taking the same course.

I sighed, "Yeah, yeah…"

He chuckled lightly before turning his attention to the professor, cuing me that I should pay attention as well. Until I shoved his notebook to my direction that had a message: _Everyone in the dorm has a secret or two._

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I couldn't think of a university name so I just called it X University.  
> If you're wondering, this kind of thing actually exist in my country (I don't know for other countries), basically there's a facebook page for almost(?) every university(even high schools in some cases), where they anonymously post random stories, rants, etc.  
> haha yeah


	8. Izawa kazuo

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm very slow at updating this... orz

Another day, another morning.

It's officially been around… two months since I started living in the dormitory, and two weeks from now, it'll mark my third month. Lately, things have been okay in the dormitory, everything has become a norm to me already. I still have some questions about a few things, but other than that, it's been okay.

Well, lately, I've been busy and I've always returned back pretty late… Since it's around this time of year when the midterms are near and then professors will give a preview or background of the project, which the student will have to start after midterms.

Most of my subjects require mainly paperwork, from essays to research paper. Others are practical, like survival routines and other military practices. Jitsui and I somehow had gotten paired up for one research paper, and he took the leadership between the two of us. When I had asked Odagiri about Jitsui, he had reassured me that, despite Jitsui's reputation, he's still an excellent student.

Today, however, was a rest day for military science students. Mainly because the professors are preparing for the upcoming midterm examinations, so they needed the entire day without having us around. Odagiri went out to watch a play, and I thought of going out with Gamou, but he said that he had plans.

I decided to just go to the cafeteria and study there instead of just cooping myself inside the room, when I saw Kaminaga, Jitsui and Miyoshi going down as well. "Hm? Ah, Sakuma-san." Miyoshi, the first one to notice me, greeted me.

"Hey… You guys don't have class today?" I asked Miyoshi and Kaminaga.

"I don't have a class scheduled today." Miyoshi said.

"We're given today to do our midterm project." Kaminaga said. "Oh hey! Why don't you join us, Sakuma!"

"Eh?" I was surprised at the sudden invitation, "Join you where?"

"Kaminaga asked us to help him out for his midterm project." Jitsui explained, "We didn't want to do it, but…" Jitsui paused as Miyoshi sighed, clearly the two didn't want to join Kaminaga, probably because Jitsui and Miyoshi are the type to do something that would benefit them in a way… Kaminaga probably coaxed them with something just to have them help him out.

"Oh? You're taking pictures or something?" I asked Kaminaga, who had nodded. "The project is quite simple. We'll have a few photos, display them, and then have the students vote. The grade will compose of the professors' input and the students' votes" he explained to me. "If I have these two in my composition, I'll have votes for sure!"

Ahhhh, so that's why… After learning about Fukumoto, I've often checked posts that are in the X Uni Files page and found out that Miyoshi and Jitsui are popular in school. Tazaki and Amari as well; but Miyoshi garnered a lot of posts from anonymous people, whether they like him and wish for him to notice them, or from pure admiration, or just interactions that they've had with him. Of course, they didn't say that it was him, per se, but… all descriptions leads to him.

"So? Wanna come?" Kaminaga asks me once more.

"Uhm—"

Just before I could say my reply, Jitsui interrupted me, "Why don't you come, Sakuma-san? I also want to talk about our research paper."

"Eh? Ah, if you say so…" I said, as I then stood up and packed my things, "I'll just put this back in my room." Getting an okay signal from Kaminaga, I went to my room and got a few necessities before meeting up with them in the lobby.

"Okay! Let's go!"

* * *

We arrived at the park, just a bus stop from the university. At the center of the park, is a fountain and a few benches around it. We had let Kaminaga set his camera up, "Okay, who wants to go first?" he asked, as he was setting up.

"Sakuma-san." Miyoshi immediately said, surprising me. "Eh? I… I didn't plan on getting pictured…!"

"But you came with us, so you have to help me out here!"

"But I just went because Jitsu—" I quickly turned my head towards Jitsui, who was just smiling at me innocently. "I thought…" I frantically tried to talk myself out of it, but Kaminaga had already dragged me near the fountain and started to instruct me, "Alright! Sit down there and act normal!"

I glanced at Miyoshi and Jitsui, both were laughing (at me probably) while they sat at the bench with Kaminaga's things.

I started to pose for Kaminaga, but since this was my first time doing this kind of thing, I'm pretty sure I was stiff and basically unnatural. Kaminaga kept relaying orders and whatnot, basically telling me to make it as candid as possible. After a lot of shots, he finally told me that we were done. "Thanks again Sakuma." He told me

"How was it?" I asked him curiously

"You did horribly." He told me bluntly, making me sigh as if expecting a different answer to my question.

"Say, Kaminaga?"

"Hm?" he didn't bother looking at me, as he looked through the photos and deleted photos that didn't really look good.

"Why'd you take photography?"

He finally looked up at me, "Ah… You must've heard about my uncle, right? He owns a store in England. I actually don't mind photography, I just want to go to England. That's all." He told me with a small shrug.

"I see…"

"Yep… Hey, Miyoshi, you're up!" he called Miyoshi over, as I walked over to where Jitsui was waiting.

"Nice work." He said to me as soon as I reached the bench.

"I was stiff."

"You definitely were." He said, not denying it at all.

I sighed as he chuckled about it. It seems that Kaminaga doesn't think much about the future, well… He seems that way anyways. But despite that, it seems to me that he takes photography pretty seriously… I'll have to check that photo gallery when I have time.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> 5 more chapters before the end of Arc 2!


End file.
